Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista successfully defended his International Boxing Federation (IBF) International featherweight title against Mexican Genaro Garcia in the main event of Pinoy Pride XII on Saturday.
According to Philboxing.com, Bautista defeated the Mexican boxer in just 2 rounds in front of his Boholano fans at the Carlos P. Garcia Sports Complex in Tagbilaran City.
The problem is, he fought the wrong Garcia.
The morning before the fight, ALA Boxing Promotions discovered that their Mexican agent sent the wrong boxer to the Philippines.
Instead of sending Genaro "Poblanito" García, who has a professional record of 38 wins and 8 losses (with 22 knockouts), the Mexican agent sent Genaro "Panterita" Garcia.
Panterita has a poor record of 10 wins and 11 losses.
Due to the mix-up, ALA Promotions CEO Michael Aldeguer decided to turn Pinoy Pride XII into a free public event.
“We cannot short-change the public after what happened,” said Aldeguer in a separate Philboxing report.
"The VIP tickets are already sold out but they can just go to the CPG (Carlos P. Garcia) Sports complex counter to get a refund,” he added.
Aldeguer said he will have the incident investigated.
He also said that Panterita will still get his fight purse.
“This is a huge financial blow for us but we will learn from this mistake,” said Aldeguer.
At least 30,000 fans watched the fight.
Panterita hit the canvass in the 2nd round after getting two successive hooks from the heavy-handed Bautista.
He managed to get up but was knocked down again with a right cross.
Referee Bruce McTavish counted him out at the 1:24 mark.